US intelligence image reveals China’s spaceplane during 2024 orbital mission

A US commercial satellite captured China’s secretive spaceplane in orbit in 2024, and a higher-resolution image published in a US intelligence report shows a craft that resembles America’s X-37B. The image offers a rare view of China’s programme, whose missions have grown longer and included apparent tests involving other objects in orbit.

The report says China’s first spaceplane mission launched in 2020 and lasted two days; missions launched in 2022 and December 2023 stayed in orbit for 276 and 268 days respectively. The X-37B, first launched in 2010, has flown eight times and can remain in orbit for years on classified missions. The report says Russia has made little progress with its own spaceplane, while recent close approaches between spacecraft have raised concerns about possible military activity in orbit.